It is customary in the manufacturing and preparation for shipment and subsequent handling of cable to wind the cable using an overlapping FIG. 8 pattern which results in a radial opening through the completely-formed cable winding. The FIG. 8 winding procedure provides for the end of the cable disposed interiorly of the winding to be directed from inside the winding through the radial opening formed in the winding and dispensed from the winding in a generally smooth process which provides the cable in a fashion easily presentable for installation to the appointed situation.
To facilitate storage, shipping, and handling, such windings are typically housed within a cardboard or similar container which has an opening formed in one wall. The winding is placed in the container in an orientation where the axis of the radial opening intersects the opening in the wall of the container and is generally perpendicular to the wall containing the opening. The pay out end of the cable is directed out the opening in the container wall thus providing for dispensing the cable.
The pay-out tube is generally inserted radially into the radial opening of the winding itself in order to tend to prevent the opening from collapsing during handling and storage and as the cable is progressively dispensed. The pay-out tube is also coupled to the container so as to be generally perpendicular to the wall of the container in which the opening is located and fully engaged, fastened to, and coaxial with said opening in the container wall. With this arrangement, the interior end of the cable can be threaded through the pay-out tube, entering the tube at the end interior to the winding and being pulled through the outside end of the tube and out of the container. The tube functions as a guide that facilitates the uncoiling of the cable loops so that the cable may be dispensed in a fashion ready for application.
Pay-out tubes are commonly used in the cable industry. For a basic understanding of the state-of-the-art with respect to pay-out tubes one is referred to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,022,300; 4,057,203; 4,274,607; 5,042,739; 5,064,136; 5,150,852; 5,115,995; 5,152,476; 4,373,687; and, 5,368,245.
Known pay-out tube designs have various drawbacks and disadvantages. First, many pay-out tubes are difficult to install and attach to the container opening. Second, many conventional pay-out tubes provide no means of retaining and holding the terminal end of the cable once pulled from the winding, and they thus allow the terminal end of the cable to hang free and uncontrolled such that often the terminal end of the cable inadvertently retracts within the winding in the container requiring a difficult procedure to extract it. Third, conventional pay-out tubes have a tendency to become crushed or distorted in handling and usage, thereby compromising the uncoiling and dispensing function normally provided. Fourth, although the FIG. 8 winding pattern is designed to reduce the tendency for pigtailing during the dispensing operation, cable variations that may occur during manufacturing, occasional winding irregularities that may occur in the production of the winding, and winding shifts that may occur during storage and handling sometimes result in failures to fully uncoil during the dispensing operation, resulting in an interruption of the process of dispensing the cable by pigtailing and/or in the development of damaging kinks in the cable.
Therefore, there is and continues to be a need for a cable container pay-out tube that is easy to install, provides an convenient and reliable means of retaining the terminal end of the cable, and facilitates a smooth and obstruction-free cable dispensing operation.